


These Go To Eleven

by The_Alias (Artemis_Day)



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bucky Barnes Bingo 2019, Danger Meter Soulmarks, F/M, Jane Foster Loves Science, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Steve Rogers, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmarks, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-07-10 14:47:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19907470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artemis_Day/pseuds/The_Alias
Summary: Soulmarks are a beautiful thing. Until they start telling you things you didn't know about yourself. Like how much of a danger to society you are.





	These Go To Eleven

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Bucky Barnes Bingo 2019. Square B2: Soulmarks.
> 
> Okay, this'll be a different kind of soulmate fic. 
> 
> The idea is that instead of the first words your soulmate will say to you, you have a number between one and ten which determines how dangerous your soulmate will be (ten being the highest and one being the lowest). I also added that the marks react to touch so it's easier to work with.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

The searing pain in Jane’s arm had nothing to do with the bleeding flesh wound and everything to do with the man who saved her.

Okay, maybe the wound had something to do with it. Getting grazed by a stray bullet in the middle of a gunfight was bound to do some damage, soulmark or no. 

It had started when the metal-armed man, who could only be Bucky Barnes a.k.a. The Winter Soldier, burst into the arena in the middle of a hostile takeover. Who exactly was taking over, Jane didn’t know. They’d stated their name and demands a while ago, but she’d been too busy hiding the flash drive with all her important notes in her shoe to listen. 

Lucky for her, Darcy had not been struck speechless by the attack. Not in the slightest.

“And if these guys hadn’t gotten here so fast and kicked your asses for me, hoo boy, pal, would you ever be dead in the water.” Darcy waved her taser at the beaten and semi-conscious assassin. “That’s right, bitch, you’d be getting some taser action right about now. Check this shit out.”

She turned it on and let the electrical current spark in his face. While Steve Rogers tried to politely carry her off to safety, Jane considered the best way to approach her newfound soulmate and start a conversation she thought she’d never have.

Soulmarks were not a unique concept and never had been. Records of soulmates dated all the way back to ancient Egyptian times, and over the years the percentage of marked over unmarked was steadily increasing. Jane’s own parents bore matching ‘first-word’ marks, as they’d come to be known. They were the most common variation. Over sixty percent of marked individuals bore the first words of their destined true love. Another thirty percent carried invisible ‘touch marks’. Marks which activated with physical contact between soulmates. There was a story at Jane’s old high school about two teachers who worked together for five years before one of them accidentally brushed the other and marks appeared on their faces. 

And then there was the other ten percent. The miscellaneous. The outliers. The people like Jane and Darcy.

As Jane’s danger meter throbbed, she tried to forget how much she hated that term. It seemed way too harsh and unsettling. The idea that a number could determine how dangerous your soulmate would be, she didn’t want to think what kind of trial and error went into figuring that one out. 

But just because someone had a high number didn’t mean they were dangerous to everyone. She had to remember that. 

“Hi there,” she said, waving to get Bucky’s attention. “I’m Jane… but I guess you knew that.”

The twenty-foot banner with her face and name plastered on it had managed to survive the battle.

“Yeah, I figured that was you,” he said, rubbing his neck. “I’m Bucky. Don’t know if you knew that.”

“I did. And I uh...I don’t know if you felt something when we touched earlier, but if you did…”

He nodded. “Felt it over my soulmark.”

Jane nodded back. “Me too. It’s nice to meet you.”

They shook hands, and Jane’s cheeks flamed as Bucky squeezed her fingers. _‘So strong…’_

“Nice to meet you, too,” he said huskily.

“Hey JANE!” Darcy screeched like a banshee and rushed over, dragging Steve along with her. “Did you just meet your soulmate? Because I totally just met my soulmate.”

Jane and Bucky glanced at each other, then at Darcy. Steve appeared to have swallowed his tongue and couldn’t speak. 

“Uh, yeah, we did,” Jane said, raising her and Bucky’s joined hands.

Darcy’s eyes bugged out. “Really? I was kidding just now but that’s awesome! We can all be soulmate buddies.”

“Right,” Bucky said, raking his teeth over his bottom lip. “So you guys both have number marks?”

“We call them danger meters nows,” said Darcy. “And you know, when I first got my mark, my mom thought I was literally going to die if I met my soulmate. Not that I blame her. I mean, when ten is the highest possible number, marks like mine and Jane’s are a little… distressing.”

Bucky started. “You guys have the same number?”

Jane shrugged. “Yeah, it’s a pretty weird coincidence. Almost seems like fate now.”

She and Darcy nodded at each other, ready to face the music. Jane pulled back her sleeve while Darcy turned and lifted her shirt. As the two men read the numbers on their soulmates’ skin, Jane was sorry that Darcy couldn’t see the looks on their faces. 

_“Eleven?”_ Bucky jerked back like he’d been hit. “That’s… what… how is that possible?”

“Said every doctor, therapist, and soulologist I’ve ever met,” said Darcy. 

“It does kind of make sense,” Jane said, reaching for Bucky’s hand and making sure to take the metal one. “You guys are super soldiers built to fight, so naturally, you’d be higher on the scale.”

“Yeah, but we _broke_ the scale,” Steve muttered.

“You also broke about fifty guys’ heads,” said Darcy, nodding at the pile of fallen bodies. “That kind of speaks for itself.”

The police and ambulances soon arrived. After everyone was debriefed and Jane’s arm bandaged up, the group left the scene and returned to Jane and Darcy’s complimentary suite at the Four Seasons. It was more like a small apartment and came with two bedrooms. Perfect for friends having a sleepover or two new couples feeling each other out.

“So, you guys know your numbers,” Jane said while perusing the room service menu. “What about ours?”

“Oooh yeah, I really want to know,” Darcy said, rushing over from the kitchen. “Let me guess. I’m a… four? Five maybe?”

Steve coughed and refused to answer.

“Can’t be more than a six, right? Even that’s got to be pushing it.”

“Yeah, we probably should’ve talked about this earlier,” Bucky said. He pulled on his shirt to expose his shoulder while Steve removed his left shoe and sock. 

Jane wished she had a mirror to see her own face.

 _“Ten?”_

She read it a few more times. That couldn’t possibly be right. That little zero next to the one had to be a weirdly shaped birthmark or something.  
  
“What the fuck is that?” Darcy sputtered. “I’m not a ten! How does that even work?”

“You do have that taser,” Steve said. 

“Okay, but here’s the thing: I’m all talk. I barely know how to use that thing. I’ve only ever tased Thor, and he was human then.”

Bucky chuckled. “Yeah, we’d been wondering about it for a while. Hope you gals aren’t offended when I say you weren’t what either of us expected.”

“No offense taken,” Jane said. “I guess we all got some big surprises today.”

“Some bigger than others,” Darcy said. She had become fascinated with Steve’s foot and he seemed torn between stopping her and letting her move up to his leg. 

“Maybe we should just let this go for now,” Bucky suggested. “We can always go back and try to figure it out later. Right now, there’s a hell of a lot more I’d rather talk about.”

He had a gleam in his eye that made Jane’s heart flip in her chest.

“What do you mean by talking?” she asked playfully.

“Whatever you want me to mean.” 

They adjourned to Jane’s room and spent a good amount of time becoming properly acquainted, Though they didn’t go further than petting, Jane was certain it was only a matter of time. Not even a day, and she already felt like she knew Bucky in the most intimate of ways. She knew he was someone she would come to trust completely, and no ten or eleven on the danger scale could take that away. 

Life would be beautiful from now on.

* * *

“Jane! I think we opened another portal in space-time.”

“Again?” Jane rubbed her aching temples. “That’s the fifth time this month!”

“Actually, the sixth,” Bucky interjected as he toppled a metal table for them to take cover behind. “Remember the duck pond thing?”

“Oh right,” Jane said. “How could I forget?”

She grabbed a bag and stored a few notebooks inside, just in case closing the rip went wrong and she ended up stuck on another planet for a week. Last time, she didn’t bring a pen, so now she made sure to grab a handful. Better safe than sorry.

“All right, portal closing time,” Darcy cheered.

She broke into a run, only for Steve to stand in her way. “Not without your taser.”

“I don’t need a weapon to sew the universe shut, thank you.”

As she and Jane planned their next move, Bucky and Steve kept them shielded from the flying debris and random energy pulses. Whatever they had on hand became a weapon against the chaos. Chaos neither Jane nor Darcy seemed fully conscious of.

“It all makes sense now, doesn’t it?” Steve said.

“Sure does, buddy, sure does.”


End file.
